A wide variety of hinges are currently available and well known to those skilled in the art. a number of these hinges, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,205,532, 3,228,058, 3,262,149, 3,381,332, 3,391,420, 3,418,683, 3,577,840, and 4,340,991 are described as "self latching" hinges, in that they provide a spring-loaded hinge for urging the door to a closed position as it is moved through one portion of its range of motion and further wherein the hinge is disabled from acting on the door when the door is moved to other positions. These hinges also include various types of self latching devices to maintain the door in its closed position. Some of these patents also disclose the provision of an "overcenter" position so as to bias the hinge to provide a stronger hold on the door in a closed position.
These patents all disclose hinges which are of relatively complicated construction, or which require complex spring assemblies for proper operation. Other disadvantages include the use of different parts for left hand opening and right hand opening doors, the criticality of proper alignment for installing the hinge, or the relatively large size of the hinge.
We have invented a method of making a new hinge assembly which overcomes the aforementioned difficulties providing stepped door movements and biased closed and opened door positions. The hinge is comprised of a minimal amount of easily manufactured components which are relatively simple to align and which require no complex spring assembly. The same assembly may be used for left hand opening and right hand opening doors and the size of the hinge assembly need not be increased in order to performed the claimed functions.